By Maarten Mes of one2many

The inexorable rise of social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter has put mobile phone operators between something of a rock and a hard place. Mobile social networking is not that profitable for operators and can have serious impacts on the performance of the overall network, but to ignore it is no longer an option.
So great is the desire to be able to log on to social networks while on the go, that the availability of such services on an operator’s network has become something of a deal-maker or breaker for subscribers.

Under strain

The delivery of such services has recently been put into question by the increased use of data capping by operators. The networks in use today are straining to cope with the huge capacity demands being made of them by users keen to consume a greater array of services. The situation has caused many operators to end ‘all you can eat’ data tariffs in an attempt to reduce the amount of data being carried over their networks.

Such moves, however, risk upsetting existing customers and can lead to customer churn. The ideal solution is to relieve the burden on the network while still providing access to a full range of services.

There are ways in which operators can continue to offer access to social network sites without overburdening the data channel and without needing to invest in additional technology. The first step is to replace SMS as the primary tool for status updates and inbound communications from a user’s network.

No business case

The issue for operators is that, delivered over SMS, the business case for mobile social networking does not stack up. If a user posts a Twitter message, for example, individual SMS messages need to be sent to all of that person’s ‘followers’, an inelegant and costly method. Operators, failing to see any revenue increase from offering these services are now considering how they can be restructured to ensure real return.

Cell broadcast can help them to do this. Cell broadcast technology, already built in to operator networks, offers a non-intrusive, real time service of distributing text messages and binary content to mobile handsets, specific to their current location. Cell broadcast is capable of broadcasting one single message to reach all mobile handsets in an area as small as one radio cell and as big as an entire country. Sending a message to millions of handsets takes a matter of seconds.

It thereby enables user-generated content to be broadcast with location relevance without the need to install costly GPS or LBS capabilities into the network. User content can moreover be sent to operators via a premium rate number, generating further revenue for the operator with each use. One received by the operator the content can be broadcast to all users in a given location signed up to a particular channel. This enables value-add applications such as dating, community and classified services.

Minimal impact

Importantly, cell broadcast has a minimal impact on the network. In addition to the fact that it can send a single message to millions of handsets with no additional capacity being used on the network, it also uses a separate and dedicated channel on the network. This means that using cell broadcast to carry social media interactions actually has a reductive effect on the amount of data being sent over the data channel of operators’ networks. This is due to the fact that all social media messaging would be removed from the data channel, freeing this up for other activities such as internet use and music downloads.

Cell broadcast is an ideal fit for microblogging and social network messaging. It enables all the location-aware services users require while at the same time reducing the cost of delivering these services for the operators. Most importantly it provides another means operators can use to reduce network congestion and ensure they can offer a high end user experience on all their data services.

Maarten Mes is managing director of one2many

MCTEL and one2many Team up to Offer Breakthrough Cell Broadcast Solution

– Cell Broadcast Messages Enabled on all Handsets Including 3G Mobile Phones

MCTEL, the messaging and device management expert, and one2many, the world’s leading cell broadcast company, announced they have formed a partnership to provide the latest generation of Cell Broadcast solutions, able to broadcast messages to all devices irrespective of whether they are set to display CB messages.

Cell broadcast (CB) technology offers a non-intrusive, real-time service of distributing text messages and binary content to mobile handsets, specific to their current location. CB is capable of broadcasting one single message to reach all mobile handsets in an area as small as one radio cell and as big as an entire country. Sending a message to millions of handsets takes a matter of seconds.

Traditionally Cell Broadcast messages are received by handsets which have CB activated and configured correctly. As configuration settings need to be performed on the handset rather than the SIM, manual intervention is required. For mobile users, manual configuration may not be intuitive acting as a barrier to activation. MCTEL’s device & SIM management expertise provides an altogether more rewarding user experience and increases the penetration of the service overcoming this barrier.

Based on an in-depth knowledge of mobile handset behaviour, the MCTEL solution identifies handsets with the CB capability not activated as well as handsets that do not support CB messages. In the first case, MCTEL SIM OTA remotely manages the SIM card to activate the appropriate parameter, even on 3G mobile handsets that represent a growing part of today’s mobile fleet. In the second case, the CB message is replaced by a SMS that is sent to the handsets that do not support CB messages. As a result, one2many Cell Broadcast Centre combined with MCTEL SIM management solution significantly increases the coverage rate of cell broadcast campaigns.

“By adding our device & SIM management to one2many’s cell broadcast technology, we entered a new phase of development for CB.” explains Dr Daniel Mavrakis, MCTEL CEO. “The solution enables operator settings control and ease of configuration. In addition we are now able to deliver CB campaigns to all the handsets attached to one or more cells on the network and even to those that do not support CB! This major improvement underlies further developments of cell broadcast services and the monetization of these services.”

With immediate and widespread message broadcasting, CB technology is especially sought after for time-sensitive location-based services. Governments increasingly use CB for emergency alerts, whether they are related to natural hazards or security threats. In such cases, it is a vital necessity to instantly reach all mobile users located in a given area. For mobile operators, CB represents a unique opportunity to locally optimize the capacity utilization rate and to launch new revenue-generating services.

Enabling Cell Broadcast is key to the success of solutions such as Public Warning and Dynamic Billing. Collectively, One2Many and MCTEL are addressing the needs of solution providers and customers in this area and building on this expertise to provide more interactive services by cross-pollinating different message domains like Cell Broadcast and SMS, or USSD.

Maarten Mes, Managing Director of one2many comments: “We are excited that MCTEL has joined one2many’s Technology Partnership program. This program fosters and supports bilateral research projects which have the potential for commercialization of CB services. MCTEL has addressed and found a solution for cell broadcast device & SIM management, supporting operators to maximise revenue from cell Broadcast commercial services”

The commercialization of MCTEL’s Cell Broadcast Versatile Delivery will be jointly done by both companies. Several mobile operators are already interested in testing the solution on their network and perceive high revenue potential in this technology.

About MCTEL

Founded in 1992 by Dr Daniel Mavrakis, MCTEL is a private company owned by its managers with a minority share of the Principality of Monaco.

Combining carrier grade software with fully scalable platforms, MCTEL offers advanced solutions in:

– Advanced messaging: SMS Center, SMS Firewall, USSD Gateway,
Cell Broadcast Versatile Delivery
– Mobile Device management: Device Management Center, SIM OTA,
ADD, EIR, Marketing Analysis
– Value Added Services: Service Delivery Platform and
applications for VAS
– Roaming: Roaming Steering, Welcome to Roamers & Bon Voyage,
Inbound Roamers Retention

MCTEL has built-up a reputation and an unparalleled know-how in the fields of mobile services and value added services for mobile operators. MCTEL also operates its own International Aggregation Center with its own SMS Hub, SMS Centers, USSD Gateways, Content Delivery Gateway and VAS Connectivity Platform connected to the SS7 international signaling backbone.

With its offices in Monaco, France, Dubai and Singapore, MCTEL counts customers in over thirty countries worldwide. MCTEL is a member of OMA and GSMA.

http://www.mctel.net

About one2many

one2many established in 2007, is a management buyout of Acision’s (formerly LogicaCMG Telecom Products) cell broadcast product unit, building on over a decade of experience in Cell Broadcast. With the spin-off one2many instantly became the world’s market leader in cell broadcast with experience in excess of 80 installations, at 50 customers in more than 30 countries on all continents

one2many has close relationships with all network infrastructure companies, major SIM vendors, leading handset manufacturers and industry standard organisations, and has a unique combination of both theoretical background and practical field trial experience in CB public warning and Dynamic Discount. This has resulted in the most mature cell broadcast product in the market with its initial release development starting in 1996, and today has the most extensive BSC and RNC driver library in the market.

one2many has its headquarters in The Netherlands, Europe. Employees of one2many are currently based in offices in the Netherlands, Dubai UAE, Serbia and Toronto

one2many is an active member of standardisation committees such as ETSI, ATIS, 3GPP, TIA, and the Cell Broadcast Forum and CHORIST (EU project).

For more information visit http://www.one2many.eu

SOURCE one2many

Successful location based marketing

How to successfully use mobile for location-based marketing
by Maarten Mes, managing director one2many appeared in the online magazine UTalkMarketing.com.

Read the entire article on UTalkMarketing.com or below.

On the surface the mobile phone represents an ideal marketing channel. It is the most ubiquitous personal device available and if used properly provides a very efficient means for companies to market their services directly to consumers. Mobile marketing has become increasingly popular since the rise of SMS and the utility of the medium has grown in the eyes of advertisers as it has been linked to Location-Based Services (LBS). One of the things that LBS allows is for businesses to text consumers based on their specific location at a given time by ascertaining a user’s location from their distance to the closest telecoms masts. This allows highly targeted marketing for example sending store discount vouchers to users as soon as they come into the vicinity of that particular shop.

LBS SMS services have not however been without their problems. SMS marketing messages were for a long time associated with spam and received a lot of negative press coverage due to this. This led to a series of regulations across the world designed to ensure that mobile marketing does not become simply a mobile version of indiscriminate email spam. Today, SMS marketing services are designed on a strictly opt-in basis, requiring a greater degree of proactivity on the part of the consumer to enable their phone as a marketing channel. Privacy has also been a concern. Many consumers do not like the idea of companies being able to track their movements in real-time as it smacks somewhat of ‘big brother’. As a result, there has been a focus on user-centric location-based services and applications which give the user control of the experience, typically by requiring them to opt in first via a website or mobile interface.

For any marketing agency wishing to enjoy the full fruits of location-based mobile marketing, there needs to be a way around the concerns of privacy and spam. From a technology point of view therefore, SMS and cell-triangulation needs to be dropped in favour of a less intrusive approach.

Cell Broadcast for location-based mobile advertising

Cell Broadcast (CB) has solved the issue of how to deliver location-based services without the need to impinge on user privacy.

Cell broadcast works by blanket-sending a message to a mobile phone cell or series of cells within a specified location. This means that all mobile phone devices within the location of those cells will receive the marketing message if they have the Cell Broadcast channel on their phones switched on. Nearly all handsets have a Cell Broadcast client built into them, making them a highly useful medium for marketing programmes.

The messages are not sent to specific individuals – just to handsets within a certain area. Moreover, the organisation sending the message does not even need to know the numbers of the phones within that location as they are targeted automatically by the Cell Broadcast platform. At a stroke this removes much of the fear of ‘big brother’ inherent to LBS approaches. With Cell Broadcast, users know they are only receiving certain promotions and offers because they are in a given area, not because the company sending the messages knows that they, as individuals, are in that area.

The applications for this are endless. Food chains could text everyone in a shopping centre with their latest offers and details on how to get to their concession stands; promoters at music festivals could send information to all attendees on which acts are starring on which stages, or which bars are offering drinks promotions – the list is never-ending. Wherever companies wish to send marketing and promotional materials that are relevant to a distinct location, Cell Broadcast can enable instantaneous location-specific communication.

Cell Broadcast also offers a solution that does not spam consumers. The Cell Broadcast channel on handsets can easily be switched on and off by users, providing them with a simple means of opting in and out of location-based advertising or other services. Moreover, Cell Broadcast can enable specialist interest channels, sponsored by brands that consumers can opt-in to. Football fans, for example, can get live score updates in real-time on a service sponsored by a sports-good company. This is the common TV model but adapted for mobile phones – users know they will receive advertising, but they agree to it due to the compelling nature of the content they receive.

Conclusion

Location-based marketing has not yet delivered the revenue streams once expected of it, in a large part because the privacy issues involved with current systems have limited its use in the field. Cell Broadcast offers all the benefits of LBS marketing but with none of the associated privacy concerns. It is an easy system to deploy and easy for consumers to decide whether they want to benefit from it, dismissing all accusations of Spam. It is clear that Cell Broadcast should be in the tool box of any marketing department.

SmartTrust partners with one2many for cell broadcast capabilities

Mobile operators now able to distribute push services to entire populations of subscribers at one time, based on location

one2many, the world’s leading cell broadcast company, and SmartTrust have today announced that one2many has been selected to integrate its cell broadcast technology into SmartTrust’s leading SmartàLaCarte service creation platform. SmartàLaCarte with SmartTrust Wib, the de-facto environment for Dynamic SIM Toolkit (DSTK), enables mobile network operators to introduce SIM based revenue-generating services. SmartTrust’s customers can now take advantage of the cell broadcast technology of one2many to distribute geographic location specific value-add push services to entire subscriber bases instantaneously, reducing costs and delivery time.

Cell broadcast (CB) offers a non-intrusive, real-time service of distributing text messages and binary content to mobile handsets, specific to their current location. CB is capable of broadcasting one single message to reach all mobile handsets in an area as small as one radio cell and as big as an entire country. Sending a message to millions of handsets takes a matter of seconds. This is particularly important for emergency alert services and other time sensitive services, like dynamic discount and sports goal alerts.

Maarten Mes, Managing Director of one2many comments: “Operators are looking to send promotional messages to all subscribers in a network, instantly and based on location, all without jeopardising subscribers’ privacy or overloading the network. Cell broadcast technology offers this risk free and is proven and available in GSM and UMTS networks. We at one2many are excited that the potential of this technology is released to the users and developer community of SmartTrust’s SmartàLaCarte suite. It will enable SmartTrust’s customers to maximise revenue from existing investments and introduce innovative and cost effective location-based services even in mass deployments.”

Fredrik Almgren, Director Product Management at SmartTrust, comments: ”Integrating the SmartàLaCarte 5 server systems to the one2many cell broadcast systems provides our customers with a very efficient channel to the mass of subscribers. It opens up for a wide variety of innovative services for the Wib 2 environment, like Mobile Advertising and Interactive Cell Broadcast.

SmartTrust partners with one2many for cell broadcast capabilities

Mobile operators now able to distribute push services to entire populations of subscribers at one time, based on location.

one2many, the world’s leading cell broadcast company, and SmartTrust have today announced that it has been selected to integrate its cell broadcast technology into SmartTrust’s leading SmartàLaCarte™ service creation platform. SmartàLaCarte with SmartTrust Wib™, the de-facto environment for Dynamic SIM Toolkit (DSTK), enables mobile network operators to introduce SIM based revenue-generating services. SmartTrust’s customers can now take advantage of the cell broadcast technology of one2many to distribute geographic location specific value-add push services to entire subscriber bases instantaneously, reducing costs and delivery time.

Maarten Mes, Managing Director of one2many comments: “Operators are looking to send promotional messages to all subscribers in a network, instantly and based on location, all without jeopardising subscribers’ privacy or overloading the network. Cell broadcast technology offers this risk free and is proven and available in GSM and UMTS networks. We at one2many are excited that the potential of this technology is released to the users and developer community of SmartTrust’s SmartàLaCarte suite. It will enable SmartTrust’s customers to maximise revenue from existing investments and introduce innovative and cost effective location-based services even in mass deployments.”

Fredrik Almgren, Director Product Management at SmartTrust, comments: “Integrating the SmartàLaCarte 5 server systems to the one2Many cell broadcast systems provides our customers with a very efficient channel to the mass of subscribers. It opens up for a wide variety of innovative services for the Wib 2 environment, like Mobile Advertising and Interactive Cell Broadcast. This is a very interesting enhancement since content and applications can now be distributed to literally hundreds of thousands of subscribers at the same time. The decade of experience and company heritage of one2Many in the cell broadcast area combined with its technical expertise makes it attractive for us to choose them as our primary partner.”

SmartTrust has joined one2many’s Technology Partnership program. This program fosters and supports bilateral research projects which have the potential for commercialisation of CB services. It will also stimulate multi-lateral science and technology networking activities to further new partnerships and accelerate the commercialisation of research and development.